Alaska Outtakes--Native Dancer.

Day 1 in Anchorage, hour 2. Our first stop on our tour is the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Sony has arranged a dance demonstration with some locals, who we thank for dropping in during the off-season. Four women dance while two men sing and drum behind them in a cafeteria-sized space, just enough room for them and the eight of us photographers swarming around them. Everyone pulls out their new gear and starts shooting, so I guess they're a step ahead of me. I'll just pay attention to three buttons and learn more later. I look through one lens, but with distractions--a small, bright window behind them, fluorescent bulbs streaking the ceiling, other photographers doing their thing--I decide to narrow the view and cut out those distractions. This is my twelfth frame. She's pretty, a pleasant portrait; but I didn't tell much of a story. Thank you, though, for weathering our photo swarm, Miss Dancer. It was like she and the others were in a fish bowl while eight cats circle about, eyes wide-open, blink, blink, click, click. Not folio-worthy yet, but hey, we have 57 hours left.